The Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII gets an update after its debut in 2017.
Building the ultimate luxury car in today’s age is a tough gig. You have to decide where the line is between tasteful and tacky. Luckily Rolls-Royce is free of that burden, as it only has to listen to what BMW Group has to say on the matter. Their latest Phantom update brings the illuminate front grille made popular by BMW with their ‘Iconic Glow’ grilles. For Rolls-Royce, this feature actually debuted on the smaller Ghost just recently.
Another obvious change is the new polished horizontal line above the grille and between the DRLs in the front as well as the more prominent Rolls-Royce emblem and Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament.
The headlights also now feature laser-cut bezel starlights.
Around the side, customers will now be given access to some new wheel designs. The key new wheel design is a stainless steel dish-style wheel with triangular facets. These rims can either be fully polished or partly polished, depending on what the customer requests. The finish can also be raw stainless steel or covered in black lacquer.
Rolls-Royce are also allowing customers to order the Phantom with black trim finishes. This includes a darkened chrome grille surround, black bonnet reins, windscreen surround as well as side frame finishers.
Inside, the Rolls-Royce Phantom facelift is almost unchanged except for the introduction of a slightly thicker steering wheel. The company has also introduced ‘Rolls-Royce Connected’, which allows the owner to send an address to the vehicle via the Rolls-Royce private-members’ Application.
Commemorating the introduction of the Rolls-Royce Phantom VIII Series II, the company has created a bespoke model called the Phantom Platino. The Phantom Platino introduces materials other than leather as alternative interior upholsteries. The two-tone interior is a combination of two different fabrics. The first is a silken material create in an Italian mill while the other one is derived from bamboo fibres.
Both materials share an original repeating pattern based on an abstract interpretation of the Spirit of Ecstasy. The silken material appears on key touchpoints, such as the armrest, centre console and more. The bamboo material is embroidered with larger icons and is placed on the lower elements of the interior where the more durable material will be more at home.
The same design on the two-tone fabric also appears on the Phantom’s dashboard timepiece. The surround is made of a 3D printed ceramic which is set to an iced finish woodset. The Rolls-Royce Starlight Headliner in the Phantom Platino has a unique star pattern designed to draw the eye rearwards with whimsical shooting stars following the sweeping arc of the pattern.
